A D.C. police vehicle

Photo by Tony Hisgett / Flickr

The man accused of fatally stabbing Wendy Martinez as she was out for an evening run last September was deemed temporarily incompetent to proceed with his trial on Tuesday, several news outlets have reported.

Anthony Crawford, 23, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Martinez. He is accused of stabbing her seven times in the face and neck area, in what police have described as a random and unprovoked attack while the 35-year-old was out running in Logan Circle around 8 p.m.

After the stabbing, Martinez staggered into a Chinese carryout restaurant behind her, where customers tried to render aid. The morning after she was stabbed, police confirmed that she had died from her injuries.

“It’s very disturbing. You have a young woman out here exercising, it’s a very very safe neighborhood. To have something like that happening, it’s unsettling,” D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said in a press conference at the time.

Martinez had become engaged to be married to her fiance, Daniel Hincapie, the week before her death.

Police arrested Crawford in her death two days after Martinez was killed. Crawford is a stranger to the victim, and his attack appeared to be entirely random.

A judge ordered a mental health screening last week, and on Tuesday behavioral health professionals determined that he was not competent to move forward in the trial, WTOP reports.

Crawford’s mental competency has been in question since the start of his court proceedings. His family told police that he suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and he has been seen in court hearings mumbling to himself, according to the outlet. Surveillance video shows that Crawford was in a Giant grocery store near the attack shortly before it happened. He was in an aisle that sells knives like the one he allegedly used to stab Martinez, NBC Washington reports.

Crawford will undergo a full mental competency evaluation at the D.C. Jail, and his next hearing will be on March 8.